Nobah

no'-ba (nobhah; Codex Vaticanus Naboth, Nabai; Codex Alexandrinus Naboth, Nabeth):

⇒See a list of verses on NOBAH in the Bible.

(1) Nobah the Manassite, we are told, "went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name" (Nu 32:42). There can be little doubt that the ancient Kenath is represented by the modern Qanawat, on the western slope of Jebel ed-Druze, the ancient name having survived that of Nobah.

(2) A city which marked-the course of Gideon's pursuit of the Midianites (Jg 8:11). It is possible that this may be identical with (1). Cheyne argues in favor of this (Encyclopaedia Biblica, under the word "Gideon"). But its mention along with Jogbehah points to a more southerly location. This may have been the original home of the clan Nobah. Some would read, following the Syriac in Nu 21:30, "Nobah which is on the desert," instead of "Nophah which reacheth unto Medeba." No site with a name resembling this has yet been recovered. If it is to be distinguished from Kenath, then probably it will have to be sought somewhere to the Northeast of Rabbath-Ammon (`Amman).

⇒See also the McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia.

W. Ewing